Have You Thought Of Christmas Yet?

If not, you should! I usually start purchasing right after the 4th of July. I dislike crowds, and if I start early, I don't have to deal with grumpy crowds.
I put three of my favorite scents together, along with a soap dish....makes a wonderful gift!
Click on the soaps to purchase....easy peasy!

What Would You Name This Soap?

I love how this soap turned out! The scent is a warm, spicy scent....and I can't come up with a name! What would you name it? The colors are light tan with black spots.

Summer In St. Louis!

A beautiful blend of Jasmine and Sandalwood! The colors were supposed to be purple and green, but the purple turned out my "gray"....but it still has a wonderful scent!!

Salad Anyone?

I colored the base with a light green and the smaller swirl with the same color, but more concentrated. It's scented with Avocado Mint!

Flowers and Soap in St. Louis!

I love taking pictures of my flowers and my soap....so why not take them together?
The flower above is an Endless Summer Hydrangea. This is its first bloom! They were planted last Spring, and about 2 weeks later we had a killer frost which severely damaged the plant and because of this, didn't produce any blooms.
Hmmmm...I wonder what soap I can use with these flowers?
Oh, the soap is called Tangerine Twist and it's handmade using the Cold Process method!

Why I Shouldn't Involve My Husband

My DH's eyes glaze over whenever I try to talk to him about "soap". He just doesn't get it!
I made a loaf of Pumpkin Spice soap yesterday and wanted to show him the process. All my oils were ready to go, and the lye/water were set. I asked if he wanted to watch me "make soap" and although the baseball game was on, he said yes (after I promised that it would take less than 5 min).
I mixed everything together and was ready to color the soap. I wanted to make an orange soap with a black swirl. I forgot to take some of the soap out (to add the black to) and added the orange to the entire pot! Oh well...I decided to go ahead and add the black anyway and instead of black, I got gray. I don't think it looks too bad, but next time, DH can sit and watch the game and I'll concentrate on my soap!
Here it is right after I poured.

Update! I Cut The Log And The Soap Came Out Perfect!

I wanted the bars to look like an apple with a stem...Apple Jack!

Christmas In June! Cold Process Soap

I have a hard time picking a favorite scent, but I think it may be Gingerbread! I could use it all year!
They came out quite yellow, although I didn't add any color. I'm hoping they cure to a nice brown!

Whew! I Just Finished Another Batch Of Cold Process Soap!

Ok, here we go! I have measured out all the oils and the hard oils are all melted. See the pen in the picture? I like to check off the oils I add to makes sure I don't miss one!










In this picture, I have just added the lye to the oils. They are the same temperature right now.














Here I have added the color. I diluted the color and used a dropper to add the color. Don't ask me about my "mustard" colored soap I made the other day!







The color is all blended now and it's coming to a nice trace. Right after I took this picture, I added the poppy seeds. They came from my very own
garden. Here I have just poured the soap, textured the top a bit, and sprinkled some more poppy seeds on top. The piece of cardboard that you see to the right of the mold goes on top. I then take several blankets and cover the whole thing up for 24 hours.












Here it is! All cut and ready to go...well...not yet...it has to cure for about 3 to 4 weeks!

First Time Trying Botanicals In Cold Process Soap!

A lightly scented soap with Sandalwood and Vanilla...yum!
This was my first time trying botanicals in my soap. I used Calendula petals.

Ooops!

Everything was going smoothly until I added my fragrance oil, Fresh Linen! It started to "glob" up, so I had t quickly pour it into the mold.













Here it is cut. This piece doesn't look too bad, but take a peek at the very bottom of the bar...oils did not mix up.



Soooo...I cut it up and plopped it into the crock pot!

Poured, cooled, and cut! They don't look as pretty, but they sure smell good!

Freshly Cut!

Freshly cut and will be ready in about 3 weeks!
Made with Fresh Grass and Tomato Leaf Fragrance Oils.
Any ideas on what I should name them??

More pictures of the process

Here are a few pictures that "vanished" when I was uploading yesterday. This picture is when I JUST turned on the stick blender. See the little bit of white around the stick? That's the first sign of the lye reacting to the oils










This is when I just put the mica in. It's such a pretty color!





















This is the mica. It comes in a powder and to mix it better, I took a few tablespoons of oils and mixed it all together in a little tub.

Fresh Cut Grass!

I had such a fun time making this soap! I was able to take some pictures along the way to show the process of making soap.
The first picture shows the beginning of melting the hard oils. I have Shea Butter and Palm Kernal Oil here.









Here's the Lye solution. It's cooling right now. What you don't see in the picture are the rubber gloves and safety goggles I am wearing.














You can see the oils are starting to melt here.















Hard oils are all melted. It doesn't take very long at all.
I have added the other oils to the pan. I have Olive Oil and Sunflower Oil here. JUST add the lye mixture to the oil mixture. You can see the change in the solution right away!












Starting to trace.


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Ready to pour!















Here it is! All tucked away. I took this picture right before I put the lid on, covered with some newspapers and a thick blanket. I can't wait to cut it tonight!!

Cut and Sliced Lavender and Peppermint Cold Process Soap!

Cut and sliced and they smell wonderful!! Made with pure Lavender and Peppermint Essential Oils. My house smells divine!